Calm (The School of Life Library) Hardcover – September 4, 2018

This book has truly revolutionized how I manage my emotions. Towards the end of undergrad, I became highly stressed and depressed, knowing that the end of an era was drawing near. I was actively hurting my relationships with the people who loved and cared about me the most, recognized this, and decided to make a positive change to better myself and my relationships during this difficult time. Calm facilitated this personal shift, and I have transformed into a much kinder, more understanding, and gentler person than I ever thought I could be. If you are open to trying new perspectives on life and would like to invest emotional and mental energy into altering yours to obtain *calm*, then I highly recommend this book.As to the book's readability, I find it to be akin to a very simple philosophical text (philosophy minor here). A few words and phrases might be cumbersome for, say, a middle schooler to comprehend, but overall the phraseology is tastefully lucid and the concepts are extremely straightforward. There is no need to spend hours pondering a single chapter to grasp its meaning. Additionally, there are photographs scattered throughout to supposedly contribute to your sense of calm while reading. Indeed, some are quite intriguing and relaxing to just stare at.I talked to my therapist about this book, and she loved the concepts presented so much that she bought and read it more quickly than I did! We particularly think that the chapters on the Weakness of Strength (i.e., every strength that attracts you to a person initially inevitably has a corresponding weakness, and whenever someone annoys us, we should attempt to trace that weakness back to one of their strengths) and In Defence of Teaching (i.e., in all of our communications, we are either teaching someone or being taught something, be it emotional states or directions; we ought not to become frustrated while teaching or being taught, because perhaps we simply need to teach or be taught differently) are the most helpful and applicable chapters. My therapist commented that many women who come in to see them are extremely frustrated with their husbands for not "understanding them" or remembering to do the "little things". Well, no student (husband) is going to want to listen or learn from a nagging, angered teacher (wife) - it does not provide a conducive learning environment. If these concepts sound like tools you could use to bring more calm and peace into your life, purchase this book. I cannot recommend it enough.

I enjoyed this book. Working one by one, reading the school of life books right now. They bring peace of mind (and read quickly). I wouldn’t mind longer versions, but I just read some Alain de botton and authors like Sam Harris to keep my mind in the same realm of philosophy and living a life of well-being. These are books I’ve already suggested to friends and would even make great gifts. I appreciate the topics.

The struggle for survival takes away our calm. This is exacerbated by the fact that calm is often at the bottom of our prioritiesThis book is a nice reminder that those priorities, passed down to us by society are not set on stone. How should we prioritize calm? That is for each one of us to decide

Alain de Botton never fails to amaze me with his vast knowledge of philosophy, art and history, and how he can seamlessly weave his knowledge into practical advice catered to modern life laden with its difficulties. His approach to calmness is indeed creative to say the least, yet also heartfelt and realistic for helping us live our current days. I truly love this book!

I love the author's work, not only his books. I truly believe he is helping to create a new better world. He elegantly and kindly unfolds complex subjects to clear understanding. It's really enlightening.

I haven't even finished because every few sentences I have to stop and reevaluate my life choices. This is so brilliant.ly done, and I love that I can hear the author's voice in my head as I read from the School of Life videos. It's such a soothing voice.

Different ways of approaching anxiety and anger that are very practical, yet insightful.

While reading this book, I calmed down. Hope this book will help me to make changes to understand better stressfull situations on daily baisis.